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Fade to Black (song)
This article is about the Metallica song. For the Dire Straits song, see Fade to Black (Dire Straits). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2009) "Fade to Black" Metallica - Fade to Black cover.jpg "Fade to Black" cover Promotional single by Metallica from the album Ride the Lightning Released September 30, 1984 Recorded February 20 - March 14, 1984 at Sweet Silence Studios, Copenhagen, Denmark Genre Heavy metal, thrash metal Length 6:55 Label Megaforce, Elektra Writer James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Cliff Burton, Kirk Hammett Producer Metallica, Flemming Rasmussen Ride the Lightning track listing "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (3) "Fade to Black" (4) "Trapped Under Ice" (5) Music sample Fade to Black Menu 0:00 "Fade to Black" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica, released as the first promotional single from its second studio album, Ride the Lightning. The song was ranked as having the 24th best guitar solo ever by Guitar World readers.1 The song peaked at number 100 on Swiss Singles Chart in 2008.2 The song is certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.3 Contents 1 Background 2 Covers 3 Track listing 4 Personnel 5 References 6 External links Background In an interview with drummer Lars Ulrich on the set of the production MTV Icon: Metallica in 2003, he recalls how he and vocalist/rhythm guitarist James Hetfield were "obsessed with death" at the time the album and song were produced. The song's lyrics address suicidal feelings.4 It begins with an acoustic guitar introduction and becomes progressively heavier as the song goes on, similar to their future songs, "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", "One", and "The Day That Never Comes". James Hetfield commented on the song in a 1991 interview with Guitar World: That song was a big step for us. It was pretty much our first ballad, so we knew it would freak people out... Recording that song, I learned how frustrating acoustic guitar can be. You could hear every squeak, so I had to be careful. I wrote the song at a friend's house in New Jersey. I was pretty depressed at the time because our gear had just been stolen, and we had been thrown out of our manager's house for breaking shit and drinking his liquor cabinet dry. It's a suicide song, and we got a lot of flak for it, as if kids were killing themselves because of the song. But we also got hundreds of letters from kids telling us how they related to the song and that it made them feel better.5 Since its release, "Fade to Black" has been a fixture in Metallica's live performances. It was also the last song that Metallica performed live with former bassist Jason Newsted before he left the band. Newsted's last gig was at the VH1 Music Awards on November 30, 2000. It was one of his favorite Metallica songs, and was said to be of great sentimental value to him, although it had been written before he had joined the band. His previous band, Flotsam and Jetsam, performed a song called "Fade to Black" on their 1986 album Doomsday for the Deceiver before he left to join Metallica. While on the Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour on August 8, 1992, Hetfield accidentally stepped into the path of one of the chemical flames that had been rigged to shoot from the lip of the stage while playing "Fade to Black". Hetfield's guitar protected him from the full force of the blast; however, the fire engulfed his left side, burning his hand, arm, eyebrows, face and hair. He suffered second and third-degree burns, but was back on stage 17 days later, although his guitar duties were delegated to former guitar tech and Metal Church guitarist John Marshall for four weeks while he made a full recovery. "Fade to Black" is notable for being the last song to be played on the Los Angeles heavy metal radio station KNAC, which went off the air on February 15, 1995.67 It would later sign off fellow longtime rock stations 94 WYSP in Philadelphia on September 2, 2011 and Power 97 in Winnipeg on January 29, 2015. Covers Apocalyptica on its album Inquisition Symphony. Apoptygma Berzerk on its studio album Welcome to Earth. Boy Sets Fire on Crush 'Em All Vol. 1, a two song split extended play with Shai Hulud. Disturbed on its Music as a Weapon II tour, but without the heavier second half of the song. Scott D. Davis on his Metallica tribute album Pianotarium Sonata Arctica on "Victoria's Secret" and "Takatalvi" singles and for the Metallica tribute album A Tribute to the Four Horsemen. Steel Prophet covered the song on its album Genesis (2006). The Lemonheads covered the song with an acoustic version as a B side on their 1997 single "It's all true". Iron Horse covered the song with a bluegrass version on its October 14, 2003 album Fade to Bluegrass: The Bluegrass Tribute to Metallica. The song is featured as a playable track in the video game Guitar Hero: Metallica. The Alex Skolnick Trio covered the song on their album Veritas. Track listing Promotional vinyl 12" No. Title Length 1. "Fade to Black" (Vocal/LP Version) 6:57 Personnel James Hetfield - lead vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar Lars Ulrich - drums Kirk Hammett - lead guitar Cliff Burton - bass guitar References 1.Jump up ^ 1 2.Jump up ^ "Metallica - Fade To Black". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2014-10-16. 3.Jump up ^ "American certifications – Metallica – Fade to Black". Recording Industry Association of America. 4.Jump up ^ Pareles, Jon (25 September 1988). "Speed-Metal: Extreme, Yes; Evil, No". The New York Times (USA: The New York Times Company). p. 3. Retrieved 14 November 2010. 5.Jump up ^ http://www.encycmet.com/songs/srfade2b.shtml 6.Jump up ^ "The Last KNAC Article". Retrieved 2013-08-31. 7.Jump up ^ "KNAC's Final Fade to Black". Retrieved 2012-11-06. External links Fade to Black at Discogs hide v · t · e Metallica James Hetfield · Lars Ulrich · Kirk Hammett · Robert Trujillo Ron McGovney · Dave Mustaine · Cliff Burton · Jason Newsted Studio albums Kill 'Em All · Ride the Lightning · Master of Puppets · ...And Justice for All · Metallica · Load · Reload · St. Anger · Death Magnetic Live albums S&M · Orgullo, Pasión, y Gloria: Tres Noches en la Ciudad de México · The Big Four: Live from Sofia, Bulgaria (with Anthrax, Megadeth & Slayer) · Live at Grimey's · Through the Never Cover albums Garage Inc. Collaboration projects Lulu (with Lou Reed) Extended plays The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited · Six Feet Down Under · Six Feet Down Under Part II · Beyond Magnetic · The 30th Anniversary Celebration Box sets The Good, the Bad & the Live · Live Shit: Binge & Purge · Limited-Edition Vinyl Box Set · The Metallica Collection Singles "Whiplash" · "Jump in the Fire" · "Creeping Death" · "Master of Puppets" · "Harvester of Sorrow" · "Eye of the Beholder" · "One" · "Enter Sandman" · "The Unforgiven" · "Nothing Else Matters" · "Wherever I May Roam" · "Sad but True" · "Until It Sleeps" · "Hero of the Day" · "Mama Said" · "King Nothing" · "The Memory Remains" · "The Unforgiven II" · "Fuel" · "Turn the Page" · "Whiskey in the Jar" · "Die, Die My Darling" · "Nothing Else Matters '99" · "No Leaf Clover" · "I Disappear" · "St. Anger" · "Frantic" · "The Unnamed Feeling" · "Some Kind of Monster" · "The Day That Never Comes" · "My Apocalypse" · "Cyanide" · "The Judas Kiss" · "All Nightmare Long" · "Broken, Beat & Scarred" · "The View" Promotional singles "Fade to Black" · "For Whom the Bell Tolls" · "Don't Tread on Me" · "Ain't My Bitch" · "Bleeding Me" · "Better than You" Other songs "Seek & Destroy" · "Am I Evil?" · "Blitzkrieg" · "Breadfan" · "The God That Failed" · "Astronomy" · "Tuesday's Gone" · "Last Caress/Green Hell" · "Stone Cold Crazy" · "So What?" · "Overkill" · "The Unforgiven III" Video albums Cliff 'Em All · 2 of One · A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica · For Those About to Rock · Cunning Stunts · S&M · Classic Albums: Metallica – Metallica · Some Kind of Monster · The Videos 1989–2004 · Français Pour une Nuit · Orgullo, Pasión, y Gloria: Tres Noches en la Ciudad de México · The Big Four: Live from Sofia, Bulgaria (with Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax) · Quebec Magnetic · Metallica: Through the Never Tours Kill 'Em All for One Tour · Ride the Lightning Tour · Damage, Inc. Tour · Monsters of Rock Tour 1987 · Monsters of Rock Tour 1988 · Damaged Justice Tour · Wherever We May Roam Tour · Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour · Nowhere Else to Roam Tour · Shit Hits the Sheds Tour · Poor Touring Me · Poor Re-Touring Me Tour · Garage Remains the Same Tour · M2K Mini Tour · Summer Sanitarium Tour · Summer Sanitarium 2003 Tour · Madly in Anger with the World Tour · Escape from the Studio '06 · Sick of the Studio '07 · 2008 European Vacation Tour · World Magnetic Tour · 2012 European Black Album Tour Related articles Awards · Discography · Demos · Songs · Apocalyptica · Beatallica · Big Mick · Rick Rubin · Orion Music + More · Beavis and Butt-head · Echobrain · Exodus · Flotsam and Jetsam · Metallica v. 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